Vigil held for Samantha Murphy at Eureka Stockade Memorial Garden in Ballarat
The community has come together to honour the life of Samantha Murphy at a public vigil.
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The Ballarat community has come together to honour the life of Samantha Murphy.
Hundreds of people met at the Eureka Stockade Memorial Garden to pay their respects from 7pm Friday.
As the sun set over the regional city, people of all ages queued through the park to sign a book dedicated to Samantha.
The book was placed alongside two portraits of the 51-year-old and an array of floral tributes.
Most of those who arrived early chose to reflect silently, a handful shedding tears and hugging their loved ones.
Local woman Joyce Yall, former co-owner of Kryal Castle, said she was moved by the city’s effort to rally around the Murphy family.
Ms Yall said in what she was sure was a sad time for Michael Murphy and his three children that she hoped Samantha’s body was found soon so the family could finally get some closure.
“We all hope and pray that she’s (Samantha) found and brought back for closure for her family,” she said.
Ms Yall said while she wasn’t personally familiar with Samantha, nearly everyone in town had at some point been involved with Inland Motor Body works, which she co owned with her husband.
Event organisers were reduced to tears, overwhelmed by the hundreds who made a show of support.
“There’s a lot of family and friends here tonight and I’m sure this just shows them how much Sam’s story has touched everyone and we are all heartbroken,” community search volunteer Tori Baxter said.
Cr Hudson said the past few weeks had been an “emotional journey” for the community, one that had brought the city of Ballarat together.
“There is a lot of emotion that still sits at the surface and I can see that by just looking around at the crowd,” he said.
Mr Murphy’s mother was seen holding a candle throughout the vigil, flanked by extended family members seen watching on over crowd.
Cr Hudson said Samantha, like any woman in the community, should not have ever been in danger while simply going out on a run.
“Setting out on a Sunday morning for a peaceful run, something that she’d done time and time and time again, but of course didn’t come home to her family,” he said.
Following reports a young man had been charged with Samantha’s murder, Cr Hudson said Thursday had been “a devastating day in Ballarat”, adding he hoped Samantha’s body would be found in the not so distant future.
Cr Hudson told the crowd he had recently reached out to Victoria Police chief commissioner Shane Patton to thank him for their tireless work over the past five weeks.
He commended the communities effort in providing any and all information to investigators to help assist the Samantha’s case.
“Thank you, Ballarat,” Cr Hudson said.
A minute of silence was followed by a silent reflection by those in the crowd, holding their mobile phone lights high in the air.
Community leaders made a point to attend the vigil, including Ballarat MP Catherine King, member for Eureka Michaela Settle, member for Wendouree Juliana Addison and councillor Belinda Coates.
A condolence book signed by those who attended and floral tributes shared will be delivered to the Murphy family home following the vigil.
The garden holds special significance for those within the community who hoped for as long as possible they would find Samantha alive.
Only two weeks ago, local members had marshalled at Eureka Stockade prior to a community led search effort throughout Woowookarang Regional Park and surrounding bush land.
Despite emergency services concluding their ground search six days after Samantha went missing, locals were never deterred in their effort to continue on with the search.
No matter the rugged terrain or hot weather, it was common place to see friends, acquaintances or just concerned locals trudging through the bush in the hopes of finding the 51-year-old in the weeks that followed.
After investigators unearthed some answers surrounding what had been a relative mystery up until a few days ago, the sad reality of Samantha’s alleged murder confirmed what many around Ballarat had began to fear.
Having spoken prolifically about the city’s continued interest and support in the Murphy case, Ballarat mayor Des Hudson said Friday’s vigil was a great place for Ballarat to come together to remember the life of Samantha.
“It is a further demonstration of how the Samantha Murphy story has touched our community,” Cr Hudson said.
When asked by organisers to attend the event and share a few words, he said he was “more than happy” to speak on behalf of the city.
It is understood a local group was scheduled to use Eureka Stockade as part of an event prior to the vigil being organised, but chose to reschedule out of respect for Samantha.
One of the vigil organisers, Jasmine Krause, said after everything that had happened, she thought it would be helpful for the community to come together to “reflect”.
“It will be nice to get together and I’m sure that there will be family and friends of Samantha’s that would like to talk about good moments in their lives and remember those,” Ms Krause said.
While she doesn’t know the family personally, like many in town, the news of Samantha’s disappearance in early February hit close to home.
“I don’t know them (Murphys) personally, it’s just something that sort of hit me I guess… had an impact on me, like a lot of other people,” she said.
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